Jenny McCarthy Explains 'Mystery Man' Boyfriend

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Jenny McCarthy has explained her New Year's Eve on-camera kiss with a mystery man - the 'stranger' is her new boyfriend.

The actress/model rang in 2011 in New York hosting a televised special for America's ABC network and she stunned fans during the show by grabbing a "random" man and giving him a passionate smooch.

The star now admits she wasn't embracing a stranger, identifying the mystery man as her latest boyfriend, sports agent Paul Krepelka from Boston, Massachusetts.

McCarthy tells talk show host Ellen DeGeneres she met Krepelka on a blind date after a string of disastrous encounters with Hollywood guys in Los Angeles.

She tells the funnywoman, "Everyone thought, 'Oh my God. She kissed a random dude.' But no, it was the boy that I'm currently seeing named Paul who I like a lot. He's very sweet.

"I decided to import this time because I wasn't doing a very good job with L.A. guys. These L.A. dudes had more make-up in their purse than me. They'd literally pull out their knapsack of concealers and I'm like, it's time to look outside of L.A.

"I found a boy. I went on some blind dates. He was my fifth blind date. The first blind dates were these really bizarre dudes that were like, 'Do you know Sharon Stone?' And I'm sitting on a date going, 'Well, I know of her. I've seen her in movies.' 'Well, you think you can get an autograph?' I'm like, 'Oh my God.'"

McCarthy split from Jim Carrey, her partner of five years, last April and quickly found love again with model Jason Toohey, only to end the romance four months later.